Is resting overrated for runners? Well, the short answer is yes and no but I want you to think about something. If it's true in training, then it must be true in over training injury recovery and whenever I say this, truthfully like most doctors if I'm speaking at a conference, they kind of cross their arms and glare at me and a lot of runners scratch their heads when I say that. But it is true and I want you to really think about this. If it is true in your training, then it should be true in y...
May 02, 2022•5 min•Ep. 555
This episode actually comes from Eryn and she's somebody who was listening to the Doc On The Run podcast and then sent in a question. She said that she was 10 weeks out after getting a dancer's fracture in the fifth metatarsal while she was trying to qualify for Boston and getting ready. What she said is, "I'm one week in using my EXOGEN bone stimulator one time a day for 20 minutes. I heard you say that you had a runner who healed after two weeks using the device." She also wanted to know about...
Apr 29, 2022•9 min•Ep. 554
All day long I talk to injured runners and help them figure out what they could be doing differently to get back to running as quickly as possible. I have realized is that the majority of injured runners are choosing, or have been told by a doctor, to follow one of four different running injury recovery strategies. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about the 4 strategies for running injury recovery.
Apr 27, 2022•7 min•Ep. 553
In today’s podcast we have Patrick from the Running Lean Podcast here on the show, and you’re going to love this episode. Patrick McGilvray is a podcast host, Licensed Primary Sports Nutritionist, NASN Certified Personal Trainer, UESCA Certified Running Coach, Master Life & Success Coach, experienced marathoner and ultrarunner, and The Weight Loss Coach for Runners. Patrick helps runners properly fuel their bodies and their minds so they can achieve peak performance and optimal health and fi...
Apr 25, 2022•32 min•Ep. 552
I was just on a call with a guy who signed up for the Runner’s Aid Station and one of the things we were talking about is he had noticed that while he was doing some specific exercise I gave him to restore some of the balance to actually make him a little more stable and more efficient. He noticed he was getting a lot of soreness in his leg. He was actually explaining what he was getting in terms of muscle soreness and we discussed whether or not it was really a problem and something you really ...
Apr 22, 2022•5 min•Ep. 551
What exactly is primary repair of the planter plate? Well, that's a surgery where we actually go in and sew it back together. We fix it. We repair it. We do something to actually make it strong and hopefully heal again, so you can get back to running. But we're going to talk about three different methods for actually doing that and some of them are kind of similar. They're different approaches and they have different risks and benefits. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about th...
Apr 20, 2022•8 min•Ep. 550
When other doctors ask me what I do, I tell them rather simply I help runners figure out how to stay fit, hang onto their running fitness and get back to running as quickly as possible. The other day I was talking to a woman, who wanted my help and wanted to schedule a consultation, and she committed what I call the cardinal sin of runner-self-criticism. She said, “I know you only work with runners. I only ran 2.65 miles yesterday, and so I am not really a runner." When she said that, I not only...
Apr 18, 2022•36 min•Ep. 549
I have talked about this before in other episodes where you basically have four kinds of structures that you could consider having surgery on. You could have bone surgery, you could have ligament surgery, tendon surgery, or joint surgery and of course, when you have an injury to only the ligament, the plantar plate ligament, you might be wondering why in the world would the doctor want to do surgery on the bone as well? Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast, we're talking about why you might need ...
Apr 15, 2022•10 min•Ep. 548
The worst runner to call me for a second opinion is someone who has been in a fracture walking boot or not running for 12 weeks or so. Why is that so bad? Well, they're extremely aggravated. They've seen at least one doctor, probably a bunch of times. They've probably had several x-rays. They've been waiting and waiting but they're not getting better and they're very upset about that. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about how waiting for an x-ray can cause you to miss your win...
Apr 13, 2022•6 min•Ep. 547
If you are a runner and you're thinking about surgery, you're probably maybe thinking about a second opinion, but maybe just doing your initial research, but some doctor has probably already suggested the idea of surgery to you. This is one of the four categories is tendon surgery and we're going to talk a little bit about that, about what it means, what tendon is actually operated on and what the procedures really entail so that you can understand that a little bit better. Today on the Doc on T...
Apr 11, 2022•9 min•Ep. 546
In this episode we're talking about stress fractures and we're talking about what happens when you as a runner, wished something to be true and it's not a fact. It's really important that you understand this. Some of the wishes are things like, well, I want to run. The second one is I don't want there to be a crack on my x-ray. Some facts are, well, my podiatrist took an x-ray and there was no crack. So what does that do? Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about stress fracture w...
Apr 08, 2022•4 min•Ep. 545
In today’s podcast we're talking about two different joint surgeries that are commonly performed as a component of plantar plate repair in injured runners. This is a really important thing to understand. There's two different kind of procedures. They both have different risks and benefits, and we're going to talk briefly about them so you at least know what they are. So if your doctor tries to sell you one of these procedures, you can at least know what you're buying. Today, on the Doc On The Ru...
Apr 06, 2022•9 min•Ep. 544
In today’s episode we're talking about bias and bias, of course, is where somebody is already kind of made up their mind about what should be going on with you. They're biased, they've got a slanted opinion and that opinion is based on something other are than exactly what is going on with you. When you get a second opinion, bias is the worst possible thing, because it's very difficult for a doctor to change their mind once they think they know what's going on. Today on the Doc On The Run podcas...
Apr 04, 2022•5 min•Ep. 543
In today’s episode we're talking about the four classes of procedures that affect four different anatomic structures in your foot when you have a plantar plate injury. I think t's really helpful if you're really frustrated, you're really demoralized and you're in this very vulnerable place where it'd be easy for a doctor to talk you into surgery without you really understanding what's going on. That's what we're going to talk about today is give you a basic understanding of the four different ki...
Apr 01, 2022•11 min•Ep. 542
I get questions all the time, daily almost, where somebody will send me a message and they'll say, "Well, I saw a doctor and they said I had this injury, and they said that I couldn't run for six weeks. Would you let me run?" Well, the answer is no. There's a reason doctors don't give you permission to run, and there are really four ways that you can tell, ways you can get permission. I think it's important to talk about these four ways that you can actually get permission to run. No proof, no p...
Mar 30, 2022•7 min•Ep. 541
A couple of years ago Martha was on the podcast talking about how hip arthritis has impacted her running and how she has been able to gain a different perspective on her running goals. She is the host of the Martha Runs The World Podcast. In this episode are talking about some basic principles and strategies for resuming running after surgery or a major over-training injury. Today on the Doc On the Run Podcast we have Martha Hughes back on the show.
Mar 28, 2022•33 min•Ep. 540
This is the thing I came up with when I actually was thinking about what I do differently with runners now that I've been for about a decade, basically focusing just on injured runners, what do I do differently than when I had a normal practice where I saw everybody with any kind of foot problem? Let's think about what happens when you decide to run a marathon. Nobody just wakes up and says, I think I'm going to run a marathon today, it doesn't work that way. What usually happens is you have som...
Mar 25, 2022•7 min•Ep. 539
Today's episode actually comes from something I read in one of the running forums where someone actually was saying that they were confused. They had been to see a couple of different doctors and had a couple of different recommendations because they had heel pain. The heel pain was in a little bit of an unusual area, the heel pain wasn't exactly on the bottom, the heel pain wasn't exactly on the back and it was sort of in the middle, right at the back of the heel where it curves around and they...
Mar 23, 2022•6 min•Ep. 538
Several years ago I had the honor of speaking with Gary and interviewing him for an episode of the Doc On The Run Podcast, called From 400 Pounds To Running 100 Miles. At one point in his life Gary, was seriously overweight and weighed about 400 pounds. But he was able to not only lose that weight, he became a 100 mile ultramarathon finisher and even did Leadville. Gary's not just an incredible athlete but he's also a personal development expert. Today were really fortunate to have him back on t...
Mar 21, 2022•29 min•Ep. 537
Let's say you have this aching pain in the ball of your foot. You've been running and when you run, you get some sort of weird aching soreness in the ball of the foot. You just know it's in the middle of the ball of the foot and it hurts more when you run and it hurts kind of after you run. Well, you go see a doctor. They look at you, they poke around, and they say, "I think you have a Morton's neuroma." Then later you figure out either because you got a second opinion, either or you sign up for...
Mar 18, 2022•4 min•Ep. 536
I was just giving a talk recently at the IFAF where I was talking about protocols that I use with injured runners to help them get back to activity after common foot and ankle injuries that happen to runners. The thing is, and what I was telling them is there are a few things that I use as protocols. When I say my protocol or a doctor says protocol for a stress fracture is six weeks in a boot or two weeks on crutches, that is their protocol and that is a cookie-cutter treatment plan. So in many ...
Mar 16, 2022•4 min•Ep. 535
If you're a runner and you think you have a grade 5 stress fracture because your radiology report said that or some doctor told you that, well, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, is that you don't even have a stress fracture if you have a grade 5 stress fracture. It's not a stress fracture at all. The bad news is, is a grade 5 stress fracture, is what we call a non-union where you had a stress fracture but that stress fracture actually failed to heal. You have basically a...
Mar 14, 2022•5 min•Ep. 534
What are the three best ways to diagnose extensor tenosynovitis in runners? Well, it's pretty simple. They're really three ways that I think are effective and they can work, all of them. It's not necessarily true that one is better than another, but they all three can work. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we're talking about something really simple, it's the three best methods for diagnosing extensor tenosynovitis in runners.
Mar 11, 2022•6 min•Ep. 533
The way that I thought about this episode today is that I just got off the phone, I was on a consultation with a runner and he has a plantar plate injury and he was planning on getting an injection to help the plantar plate sprain heal a little bit faster. He asked me a question that really stopped me in my tracks. He said, "How long should I give it before I throw in the towel?" I thought, well, are you planning for this to not work? I actually literally asked him that, I said "If you're thinki...
Mar 09, 2022•4 min•Ep. 532
This is a great question that I got from somebody on a call who actually signed up and enrolled in the plantar plate class for runners. He was going through the plantar plate course and he was actually trying to figure out what to do, and he was going to jumpstart the healing process by using a fracture walking boot. He tried it on and he noticed that he was feeling some pressure because the inside of the fracture walking boot is basically flat. Today on the Doc on the Run podcast, we're talking...
Mar 07, 2022•6 min•Ep. 531
I recently got a call from someone who had a son who was in cross country and he's been having some trouble. He's had several weeks of not running, and she wanted to get some advice on what to do. I got an interesting response via email, where she wanted to know what free advice I had for her son. First of all, I don't give advice when I don't know what the problem is. I didn't really know the story with her son. We didn't do a consultation, and no physician is going to give you advice if they d...
Mar 04, 2022•4 min•Ep. 530
Believe it or not, most of the time when I see a runner, either on webcam or in their home, and they have shin splints, and they've been given a fracture walking boot, they need the fracture walking boot and maybe even more. But what that really tells me when a doctor says you have shin splints but you need a boot, that it's really that the doctor is uncertain about the actual diagnosis, because in my view, most of the time, if you have shin splints, you do not need a fracture walking boot. Shou...
Mar 02, 2022•3 min•Ep. 529
I was just lecturing at the IFAF meeting in Lake Tahoe and I was giving a couple of different lectures on running injuries, and one of them was about the protocols that I use with injured runners so that they can maintain their fitness, stay fit, stay active, and keep running. One of the doctors asked me about how I make these decisions and I explained to them was that the worst piece of advice I myself ever received as someone who was injured was when this doctor told me, "Just let pain be your...
Feb 28, 2022•5 min•Ep. 528
Today's episode is going to be a good one for you to listen to, if you've been told that you have a tibial stress fracture, or if you just think you might have a tibial stress fracture. If you get a tibial stress fracture, the chances are really good that the doctor's going to do something to really restrict your running, and potentially your ability to move around at all. For example, if you get a fracture walking boot and it's on your right foot, well, you can't even drive a car so you've got ...
Feb 25, 2022•5 min•Ep. 527
One of the phrases I often tell injured runners is that “nothing in medicine is free.” For every potential treatment that might help some particular injury, you pay for it in risk. A fracture walking boot is one of the simplest and most-often-prescribed treatments for overtraining injuries in runners. And although fracture walking boots maybe inexpensive, treating your running injury with one is definitely not free. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we’re talking about how nothing in medicine...
Feb 23, 2022•6 min•Ep. 526
